Home Monitors
For home use the monitors are fairly similar to a business use monitors but there are a few key differences. In a home environment the use is usually sporadic and will not involve 8 hours of strait use through a business day so a fixed stand is fine, allowing for a slimmer monitor design. The use can often involve movies games as well as some general office use like internet surfing spread sheets etc so a faster response time and higher contrast is generally recommended.

Internal speakers are also less of a concern as more powerfull external sets are usually the preference. A full HD resolution and a large image size is also the better way to go if it is being used for movies like blurays.

What is resolution?
Resolution is the measure of pixels (or dots) on the screen, a higher resolution (or more pixels) is recommended for large screens sizes or when much detail is desired. Resolution depends on the size of the monitor:

Is contrast important? How much do I need? [top]Contrast ratio is a measure of the difference between the brightest white that can be produced and the darkest black. The most common contrast ratio found in LCD monitors is about 20million:1. With the advent of LED monitors which can achieve even higher numbers some brands are starting to call it mega contrast. Ever since the contrast levels breached the 1000:1 barrier the differences have become hard to spot with almost all monitors on the market offering an exceptional contrast level.

There are several connections that computers use most monitors come with a selection of these to allow for easy connection and setup. There are two signal types Analogue and Digital. Although there are several digital connector types digital connections will give you the same image quality.

D-Sub - Sometimes refered to as VGA this is an older type connector using an analogue signal.

A response time on LCD monitors is simply a measurement (in milliseconds) of how fast each pixel can respond to colour changes. Generally a response time slower than 16ms is considered poor and can result in motion blur when fast moving objects move across the screen. The newer and more common response time is now 5ms, but monitors are now available as quick as 2ms. For playing games a response time of 8ms or faster is suitable, for movies 12ms is fine and for office use anything up to 20ms will be okay. The smaller the number the better the performance on fast moving video.

What Brightness level is recommended ? [top]Whilst the brightness level should be kept in mind when deciding on the right monitor it is not of great importance as virtually all LCD's are extremely bright. A brightness level of 250nits is the most common and is recommended for most uses.

What is the Viewing Angle? [top]Due to the restrictions with the technology, LCD monitors are subject to a Viewing Angle. Simply put, this is the angle you can view the image at before it becomes dark or off-colour. If an LCD has a low viewing angle (ie 140-150 degrees) when viewed from the side it would appear very dark or not be visible at all.
Viewing angles are stated for each model for the horizontal and vertical angles. The horizontal angel is stated first followed by the Vertical angle (EG: 170/160 = 170 horizontal and 160 vertical).
Generally the Vertical viewing angle is not as important as the horizontal angle. We recommend a 160 or higher horizontal viewing angle for most uses.

Do speakers come with each monitor? [top]Some LCD monitors come with small 1-3 watt speakers inbuilt to allow office and home users to save on space by using the inbuilt speakers instead of having large desk speakers. These speakers only come on some models and tend to be relatively weak so, whilst are good for music and background sounds, are not great for high volumes.

Can I use my monitor for TV or XBOX/PS2 Game Consoles? [top]Computer monitors do not usually come with a TV Tuner nor have the inputs suitable for DVD players or game consoles. There are a limited quantity of monitors that offer these inputs however generally these cost a little more. Some of the newest consoles like the Xbox 360 can work with a standard monitor when used with a VGA adapter.

Avermedia offer TV Boxes that can change any standard monitor into a TV by offering a TV Tuner plus all the inputs required to plug in a game console and DVD player. Please contact our sales office for information on these.

Is there anything else to look out for ? [top]
Before making your purchase decision its always best to be certain of what kind of use you need the monitor for. Will it be used for performance gaming or for general multimedia use? Will it be used for television/movies or just for Word documents? These sort of questions will help you find out what response time you need, what contrast ratio is suitable and even what size of monitor you should select.

Before purchasing, whether from us or a competitor, please feel free to contact us to discuss the monitor you are thinking of purchasing. We like to ensure you are getting the monitor that's right for your needs. Many resellers and retailers only hold some models and therefore attempt to sell what they have in stock. At Just Monitors we have a massive quantity of stock available, stored in distribution warehouses in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and Perth. We are therefore never pressured to sell one particular model or 'what we have lying around'.